Knockemstiff, Ohio, is a place where bony dudes, emboldened after swigging whiskey from car ashtrays, flatten men three times their size in drive-in bathrooms. It's place where acne-riddled teenagers flee abusive fathers in favor of overweight, speed-popping homosexual truck drivers. At least that’s the Knockemstiff we get in Donald Ray Pollock’s widely-praised debut collection of short stories, aptly titled "Knockemstiff," published earlier this year.